Blockbuster Closing 960 Stores – Opening 9,500 Kiosks

[Attebery]

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/sh...00_Kiosks/3455

[Bouncy X]

so how do those kiosks work? you enter the movie you want and it burns it on a disc afterwards? if so, i assume it be those discs that disintegrate after being opened or something.

wonder if this sorta stuff will happen in canada. i rent movies once or twice a year (mainly just to keep my account active because its cancelled after a year of inactivity). but that has nothing to do with downloading or new technology or whatnot. i just tend to buy the movies i liked in theaters on release day and the ones i havent seen i wait til they air on cable.

[davcole]

There's a THE NEW RELEASE kiosk in the local grocery store. Wonder if they will put the Blockbuster on there.

[taygan315]

My local Redbox kiosk is kicking ass!! There is always a few people in line ready to get their movie. Redbox, in combination with Netflix, Blockbuster has to do something like this to stay alive. We will see if they can stay afloat with this strategy. I think it is only a matter of time when we see the last of Blockbuster if this strategy of theirs does not pay off.

[MondayC]

Well $4 DVD rentals certainly aren't helping their business.

[Nut Bunnies]

Where's the list of stores closing?

[GearsOfWar]

I wish all of those who are loosing their jobs the very best.

[Hastor]

Originally Posted by Bouncy X

so how do those kiosks work? you enter the movie you want and it burns it on a disc afterwards? if so, i assume it be those discs that disintegrate after being opened or something.

You just swipe your credit card and get a copy of the real disc that is stored inside the machine. Your card gets charged per-night, and if you don't bring it back, there is a charge for not returning it. No burning, just an automated video store. You can store a lot of discs in something a bit bigger than a Coke machine. Not usually a lot of catalog titles though, and I've yet to see Blu-ray though have heard they were testing it in big cities.

Without Blu-ray, I don't have a reason to use them at all. Maybe once a year something comes out on DVD but not Blu-ray that I want, and chances are when that happens, it isn't popular enough to be in one of these kiosks. Guess I'll be sticking with Netflix. I just occasionally use the walk-in Blockbuster to rent a Blu-ray when the desire to watch a certain movie pops up (say a friend I want to show it to surprises me by being in town) and I don't want to wait for the Netflix. Sometimes if I'm dying to see something on release date and get skipped over by Netflix I'll rent it at BB too, but they often don't have the Blu, or only got one or two copies that are checked out. I'll always wait on the Blu from Netflix rather than rent the DVD.

A list of stores that are closing would be nice. I would like to know if I should bother applying at my local one. If I had to make a guess I bet they are closing down. The grocery store across the street has a popular Redbox (or similar) kiosk. Wonder if they are gonna do video games as well?

[CaptainCanuck]

Nice if all you want are new releases.

[disilluzion]

I'm happy. My two local BB stores stopped accepting online coupons which consisted of several free rentals and 2 free previously viewed movies. To hell with them.

[chameleontongue]

BB prices are just too high.. late fees etc.. netflix i dont have to waist my gas just go to the mailbox. my local netflix is in hour so i have a 2 day turn around.. 1 day for them to recieve my return disc and 1 day for it to travel to me. there's no late fee's.. i dont use redbox but i can see y peopel would choose to rent a movie for just $1.. i dont use redbox cuz i dont always have time to watch a movie that day i receive it which is y i prefer netflix..

[Gojira]

Blockbuster has been ripe for fall. They over-charge and underwhelm me when it comes to customer service. Man, those guys got mean (and ugly) even if the disc was a half hour late! I use Netflix for my Blu Ray needs and
I do enjoy Redbox as a supplement, as there are never enough copies to go around and I end up waiting 2-3 weeks for some new releases from Netflix. I know for a fact that Redbox is test-marketing Blu Ray and videogame rentals. As to when a national roll-out will happen, we will just have to wait. Good news is that Blu Rays will be $2-$3 (per night) and games (PS3,Xbox 360 etc) will be reasonable as well. Let's celebrate!

[disilluzion]

Originally Posted by Gojira

Good news is that Blu Rays will be $2-$3 (per night) and games (PS3,Xbox 360 etc) will be reasonable as well. Let's celebrate!

I don't think that's good news. Two to three times the amount of an SD DVD is ricockulous. My local video store is the same price for HD or SD; $2 for 3 days/2 nights.

I understand a lot of people only have the big name rental locations near them (Blockbuster, Hollywood, etc.) and are forced to pay unreasonable prices, but even then Netflix would be the way to go. I canceled back when they upped the price of Blus the 2nd time, but may go back for convenience and availability.

[Prime Winner]

I don't feel bad for Blockbuster at all. About 3 weeks ago I went to my local Blockbuster to try out Wolfenstein PS3. To my surprise they had the game. So Im standing in line to check out and I realized the rental price was $8.99 + tax for a 5 day rental. I left empty handed. See ya Blockbuster, you did it to yourself.

[ApBtFusion]

Originally Posted by Prime Winner

I don't feel bad for Blockbuster at all. About 3 weeks ago I went to my local Blockbuster to try out Wolfenstein PS3. To my surprise they had the game. So Im standing in line to check out and I realized the rental price was $8.99 + tax for a 5 day rental. I left empty handed. See ya Blockbuster, you did it to yourself.

theres a 7 day grace period after those 5 days. so it's really 12 days, plus if you don't return it after that they will charge the game to your CC but if you return it within a month they credit back the amount minus a restocking fee of 1 dollar and change.

not bad if you ask me